


Middle Earth In Brief

by cruisedirector



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Blood, Brotherhood, Canon Related, Community: lotr100, Denethor's A+ Parenting, Drabble Collection, Drama, Eventual Happy Ending, Fellowship of the Ring, Flowers, Fourth Age, Gondor, Grief/Mourning, Inheritance, Kissing, Love, Love Triangles, Making Love, Mortality, Multi, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Power Dynamics, Royalty, Scents & Smells, Soldiers, Swords, Tarot, The One Ring - Freeform, The Two Towers, Threesome - F/M/M, War of the Ring, Weather, Wraith, five things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-11-23
Updated: 2009-11-23
Packaged: 2017-10-03 15:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruisedirector/pseuds/cruisedirector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moments out of time in Middle Earth. Some of these were originally archived at <a href="http://fanlore.org/wiki/Henneth_Ann%C3%BBn_Story_Archive">HASA</a>, which closed in February 2015.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Honor

**Author's Note:**

> Drabbles, mostly written for lotr100, mostly set in Jackson's movie universe though in the world of Tolkien's books as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The extended edition _Fellowship of the Ring_ contains a scene where Boromir grabs Aragorn by the tunic and begs him to come to Minas Tirith with him -- a scene screenwriter Philippa Boyens describes as almost like a lovers' quarrel in the directors' commentary.

"You are afraid! All your life, you have hidden in the shadows, scared of who you are, of what you are!"

Boromir shouts the accusation, gripping my clothes. His breath heats my skin. I know his words to be true, and feel shame at my cowardice.

Yet I also know that he does not understand. I do not shirk from battle, nor the responsibilities of rule. It is not lack of love for Men that holds me aloof.

I love this one far too well.

I cannot permit myself this temptation. The Ring and I must go to Mordor. Now.


	2. Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another drabble based on the extended edition Fellowship of the Ring DVD, a sequel to "Honor."

As night enshrouds the river, Boromir lies apart from the others. The pain that twisted his face when he quarreled with Aragorn now hunches his shoulders under his cloak. He does not stir as the Ranger stretches out beside him, but his breathing hitches, betraying his wakefulness.

"You are wrong to think I bear no love for Men," Aragorn murmurs. "Can you not see?"

The younger man turns, hope in his eyes, and for a moment Aragorn thinks Boromir does see. But the moment passes, and Aragorn knows he has spoken too late. The Ring has already made its claim.


	3. Concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first LOTR100 drabble, written for the "through the eyes of a friend" challenge.

They had been racing through Moria for two days, without food, without sleep, before Aragorn found a moment to speak to Gandalf alone.

"We must let the little ones rest."

For a moment he thought the wizard would argue, yet Gandalf only turned, nodding briefly.

But Aragorn found he had something else to say. "You should not be so hard on Pippin." Weary, piercing eyes met his own again. "He does what he can. He needs our help, not anger."

"Yes, he does," replied Gandalf.

It was not the smallest hobbit at whom he glanced, but the Man beside him.


	4. Precipitate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 weather challenge.

Rain pours over Osgiliath, yet the flag of Gondor flaps overhead. The water washes away the filth, the stench of the bodies of orcs and the blood covering the men. It scrubs shattered stone from the streets, scorch marks from the battlements, and the stink of battle from the skin of soldiers who stand unshielded, cheering their victory, despite the storm.

It will be years before the city is truly clean, without fragments of bone and metal caught in its gutters. Still, tonight, in the lightning, all can see the banner of the White Tree above the shattered city walls.


	5. Husbandry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 honesty challenge.

A heart does not change in a moment. When Faramir offered his hand to Eowyn, promising a garden in the sun in place of despair, she cleaved more to the dream than to the man. In truth, love grew slowly for them both, blossoming in absence while she rode with her brother.

After she returned, Eowyn admitted her confusion. But Faramir only smiled, glancing from her to the King; and she saw the King reflected in his eyes, as he had been in her own. The White Tree had taken root once more, and she knew the garden would flourish.


	6. Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 challenge about arriving at a new place.

The morning after her wedding, Arwen felt surprised at how little the world had changed. She had thought that mortality would strike her at once -- a sudden sharp pain like a torn maidenhead or a lover's farewell.

Instead her senses seemed acute as ever, and she knew no diminishment, only peace. Delightedly she woke her husband, and they reveled in love and in life.

It would be many years before Arwen understood loss as gradual and irrevocable. On the anniversaries of Boromir's death, of Theoden's, she watched Aragorn and learned her fate. Love, she found, faded more slowly than hope.


	7. Edge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 minor arcana challenge (sword, staff, cup or shield).

You wanted to die with your blade in your hands, so I left it there, although I longed to put it aside; to pull off our gloves, take whatever small connection of the flesh might have been left to us. You chose a soldier's death.

You called me king, and captain. Those were not the words I wanted, yet it was your end, your choice. I did not interfere. Still, when it was over, I took your vambraces to guard my sword arm; for I had lost you, my sword arm, to the falls, with your blade in your hands.


	8. Felix Culpa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 passion challenge.

When he claws himself onto the ruined bridge, Gandalf sees the others suspended at the edge of the same abyss.

Swift Legolas, halting to shoot his arrows to speed the brave hobbits to safety.

Steadfast Gimli, marching through the ruin of the Dwarves' glory, refusing to be turned by his grief.

Proud Boromir, carrying Gondor's hopes on his arm like a shield, holding back Frodo with the burden of darkness gleaming about his throat.

And Aragorn, destiny dangling bright as a crown as he inches toward the wizard's rescue and his own doom.

"Fly, you fools," Gandalf commands. And falls.


	9. Queen of Cups

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another for the LOTR100 minor arcana challenge (sword, staff, cup or shield).

She watches the Ring pull Frodo forward, toward the water, toward the Eye, and knows that she has invited him to look into the Mirror so that she might grasp his will. As the Eye gleams in the Mirror, in her mind, Nenya tugs her hand into a cold, unyielding fist.

Then Frodo offers her the One Ring, and her storm crests...fair as the sea and snow, dreadful as the lightning. Desired for centuries, this love, this power, within her scope. But she had wished: "What should be shall be."

Her hand open, the tides of fate flow past her.


	10. I Would See You Smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 might-have-been challenge.

  
Though the King of Rohan could not comprehend Aragorn's path toward the Dwimorburg, he had learned not to question his people's champion. Yet Theoden had also seen the pain in his niece's eyes, and for that, of all things, he would have demanded that Aragorn give account.

Aragorn followed Theoden's glance. "She has brought her sword," he said quietly, then spoke no more. Theoden thought at first that Aragorn absurdly feared that she might take her own life. Yet Aragorn was smiling sadly, and Theoden understood. This gift he could give to Eowyn: to let her choose valor above duty.


	11. Imladris

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the contrelamontre challenge for a kiss in an unusual location; I wrote three drabbles, three kisses.

"You need not bring me here," Boromir insists, but Aragorn holds a finger to his lips as he moves through the cool, damp grass toward Gilraen's memorial. Boromir feels an unaccountable sense of foreboding at the grief in the other man's eyes, yet he knows he cannot turn away, now the Ranger has requested his company on this solemn visit. They both lost their mothers when they were young; Boromir supposes that among the Elves, Aragorn never met anyone who could truly understand such grief. He sinks to his knees beside Aragorn and presses his lips to the bowed forehead.

"You cannot kiss me here," Boromir hisses, but Aragorn will not listen. Thus he finds himself pressed to the mural, arms pinned against the image of Isildur's triumph, even as the Ranger claims his lips. Twisting, Boromir struggles, terrified of damaging the ancient painting far more than he fears being caught. Yet his dread merges with his excitement as the image of the ancient king is overlaid by that of his heir, and Boromir yields, though submission is not demanded of him...for the moment his lips part and tongue seeks Aragorn's, the Ranger cries out and shudders against him.

"You must not love me here!" Boromir exclaims, but Arwen's laughter is full of music and Aragorn smiles down at him with such simple delight that any further protests fade, unspoken. The beautiful elf moves astride him, a command in her eyes -- it is, after all, her bed -- and Boromir lies still as her fingers loosen his clothing, but his eyes are filled with Aragorn, who sheds his own vest and lies at his side, turning Boromir's face to him. Sliding silently away, Arwen watches her betrothed kiss his mortal lover. Swelling with gratitude, Boromir reaches out for her hand.


	12. Shard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another for the LOTR100 minor arcana challenge (sword, staff, cup or shield).

At the sight of the broken sword, he forgot, for an instant, Isildur's doom, and the shadow in the East; he forgot even the man who watched him. He lifted the hilt and for that moment he became Isildur at the moment of triumph, as the Ring fell to the ground.

Then the blade drew his blood, and he remembered who he was, and what he was, and why he had come to Imladris; and he turned to find the man's eyes on him, seeing. And he could not put it down quickly enough, the sword not his to wield.


	13. Sufficient

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 contentment challenge, though not as content as one might wish.

Their names sound similar enough that when the soldiers chant in pride, Faramir can pretend to hear his own, not only his brother's ringing out. And when Boromir smiles as he approaches, Faramir can pretend that this victory belongs to them both.

He can pretend, too, that their father does not blame him for failing to hold the city with his tiny garrison. For now it does not matter. Osgiliath is theirs again, and it is enough to stand beside his brother, holding a goblet of ale, listening to the celebration. He does not need to pretend to be joyful.


	14. Roar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 challenge about arriving at a new place.

The distant sound of the river is no louder than the murmur in his mind, the endless snarling rumble of his people's need. Before him rises a monument to ruin. Each fallen statue seems an omen. He wonders if the Horn of Gondor would summon armies here or whether it would bleat uselessly, its cry fading amidst dark trees.

Aragorn would not hear it either; Aragorn will not even listen to the desperate need of Minas Tirith, for he is enslaved to the Ring's quest. Unworthy king, his condemnation resonates still as Boromir crosses the wood to see the Ringbearer.


	15. Stormcrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 minor character challenge.

It is Háma's duty to guard the Golden Hall, yet evil has entered Meduseld and sits beside the throne. For years he has been powerless to protect Rohan. Now Théodred is gone, and the last King of the Second Line sits in darkness.

"You would not part an old man from his walking stick," pleads Gandalf. Háma can see that the wizard is stronger than Théoden and has no need of support from his staff. But Grima's men stand behind him, and Háma can only hope, as he nods reluctantly, that these strangers bear weapons invisible to his tired eyes.


	16. Concealment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 argument challenge.

"They are too young to be told!"

His father's contention reverberates through the locked door, though his mother's whisper is harder to make out, especially over Faramir's shaky breathing. It would be easier for Boromir to eavesdrop by himself, yet he cannot bear to send his brother away.

"Will you not tell them until I am gone?" they hear Finduilas' frail voice ask. Faramir stifles a sob against Boromir's arm, and Boromir cleaves to him, knowing that both his parents have spoken fairly.

They are too young to be told. And they are also too young to lose their mother.


	17. Ashore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 teaching challenge.

Arwen accepted Eowyn's reticence as something that she might not have avoided, as the Queen and an elf besides, for it took no great sympathy to see the nostalgia that lingered in Eowyn's eyes when she looked at Aragorn.

Thus Arwen was surprised when Eowyn encountered her upon the walls of Minas Tirith, approaching with unhappy caution: "Do you look to the west, my lady?" Then, at Arwen's denial, "My husband told me that his mother pined away in this city, longing for the sea."

"This is my home," Arwen replied, with a certainty she had not known she felt.


	18. Evermind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another for the LOTR100 argument challenge.

"Come with me," Aragorn begged Faramir, yet Faramir refused for over a year, until Eowyn convinced him that his grief would never rest otherwise. Better than anyone, she knew the nightmares that woke him in misery.

Faramir had not believed that Aragorn could find the precise spot, so many months later, after the Anduin had flooded and quakes had rocked Amon Hen. "Let us turn back," he pleaded, but Aragorn would not.

When they reached the place, they both knew it at once. Even so far south, with neither grave nor marker, simbelmynë bloomed at the foot of the tree.


	19. Wraith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three linked drabbles written for the contrelamontre sense-of-smell improv challenge.

_The scent of blood._

When it is fresh, it has much in common with the scent of the summer sea: warm and salty, with the suggestion of rot beneath. When it is not fresh, it has much in common with the scent of rusting metal: crumbling weapons, ruined gates. The Dead Marshes.

Blood follows the Ring in a dark honeyed trail, drawn to its power, drawn to the blood of the Dark Lord forged within its golden band. Blood is purer than iron, warmer than anger. Blood remembers, and it holds the whiff of life long after it has spilled.

_The scent of fear._

It clings to all the companions, twisted mirrors of the Nine who hunt the Ring. It reeks from the hobbits in a mixture of piss and slobber like unwashed children. It oozes from the men in their putrid sweat, their oily hair, the seed they spill furtively into one another's rank holes.

The dwarf's fear stinks of rancid meat like his breath. The elf's tang is sweet, like the fragrance of wildflowers torn apart and scattered in a storm. The wizard's fear smells old as the embers surrounding Mount Doom, smoky remains of shadow and flame.

_The scent of gold._

It is a living thing, writhing, twisting, singing the words of power that ring the band. It bears the aroma of purest flame, unsullied by base metals, untouched by the hands that have worn it save one. Its odor promises sustenance beyond food, beyond air. To trace it in the wind is to hear the music of salvation. To touch it would be to feel the flames of bliss.

Its scent carries through the bitter snowy air of the mountains and up from the icy waters of the rivers. It is near. Sniff, and it calls.


	20. The Appointed One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 fear challenge.

The Dark Lord knows your name. You don't know why this should shock you, for you bear Isildur's blood; surely Sauron recognizes it. Yet when his Ring speaks, you find yourself undefended.

This must have been what it was like for Boromir on the mountain...the most dreadful moment of your journey, when you thought that you might have to strike him down. But has it been the same for him ever since -- the Ring calling to him, beckoning him away?

Did you refuse to hear his desperation?

You close your hand over Frodo's, silencing the voices while you can.


	21. Foreign

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 foreign language challenge.

The Ring spoke to Boromir on the mountain. Aragorn could not hear it, yet he imagined the sound of the Black Speech. He wondered whether clouds obscured the brightness of the sky for the warrior, closing in like dark words, before Aragorn spoke his name and called him back.

Yet when the Ring spoke to Aragorn, it did so in his own tongue, in a seductive whisper. The sky did not darken; the band of gold lay bright and clear in Frodo's palm. His name held a terrible beauty that he had never heard before, and wished not to understand.


	22. Wish You Were Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Milochka's challenge in Rugbytackle to write fic based on someone else's icon, based on Lanna Michaels' "Wish You Were Here."

His foot hurt so badly when he kicked the helmet that he thought he might have broken a toe. He was too late again, too late to save Merry and Pippin after Boromir gave his life -- his _life_ \-- defending them. Aragorn had sworn to defend the White City, yet he could not even rescue the little ones. How was he to protect Gondor?

Arrows from fallen Uruk-hai surrounded him, all burnt. Always too late, he raged, falling to his knees, hands clutching into fists. Crying out, glad that no name escaped his lips. Wishing to trade fates, reverse time...start over.


	23. Succession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 joy after tragedy challenge.

I have been in this room more times than I can count since I was a child. I remember my mother bringing me here, holding my hand when I shrank from my father's scowl. When I was older, I sat in his chair and was punished for it, hiding behind a statue until my brother drew me out with promises to protect me.

Boromir is not here today and I ache for him, but today I need no defender. Today I am the Steward of Gondor. And today a King sits on the throne, and this room is made new.


	24. Conveyance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 contentment challenge. Faramir and Eowyn's son Elboron (whom I assume to be named for Boromir and perhaps Elessar as well) appears only in a _History of Middle-Earth_ geneaology; I made up his age respective to Eldarion.

Faramir is many years younger than Aragorn, but his eldest child has half a decade on Aragorn's heir.

While the fathers held a private meeting, the Steward's son made soldiers out of stones, recreating victories for the enthralled future king.

Now Faramir touches Aragorn's hand while they watch Elboron with Eldarion. The men had both felt slightly ashamed at sending their children off so that they could be alone, yet all four of them are smiling.

Faramir had been sorry when he and Eowyn failed to give Elboron a brother. He should have guessed that his King would provide one.


	25. The Duties of Government

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write a story for Cara Chapel's birthday, but it just would not come together, so in honor of Boromir's yahrtzeit I whacked it into the current double-drabble form.

Samwise Gamgee was content to serve as Mayor of Michel Delving, though he felt that the title should have belonged to Frodo, who had saved the Shire. Then King Elessar made Sam a Counsellor of the North-kingdom and travelled to visit him there. It was easier in his presence to remember that the king had been only a Ranger, once, when Sam was a gardener, back in the days when their loyalties lay not in lands but in the hands of those they loved.

Sam did not know how to explain his sorrow to Aragorn until he recognized the vambraces that the king still wore strapped to his arms. Now the mayor understood that the king had been as broken on the day his Steward died as Sam had been when Frodo sailed into the West. Yet in taking the crown and giving his devotion to Gondor, Aragorn had done just as Boromir wished. In much the same way, Frodo had left the Shire in Sam's own keeping; and so he kept it, not only for its own sake, but because Frodo had said that he should be mayor, and keep alive the memory of the age that was gone.


	26. Salvation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the LOTR100 might-have-been challenge. This is a spin from movieverse with spoilers for _The Return of the King_.

The Ring falls first.

As he tumbles through scalding air, Gollum watches it drop into liquid flame. For a moment it seems to float on the surface, its malevolent words ablaze.

Then the Ring is gone forever.

Gollum's head has twisted upward during his tumble. While the heat begins to burn away his skin, he sees the fat hobbit and his master reach for each other.

The Ring has been destroyed, and Gollum remembers love.

Then Gollum is gone forever.

It is Smeagol who sinks into the fires of Mount Doom, knowing at the end the world's only true power.


	27. Five Things About Each Other That Drove Faramir and Boromir Crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for missizzy for the Five Things Meme: _You post a topic, list, category, whatever, in my comments section. (Examples: "Five Names Harry Considered for His First Son," or "Five Moments Snape Would Like to Have Back," or "Five Reasons Bella Likes Blood.") Then, in a separate post, I'll post the answers to your Top 5 ideas, according to me. Serious or fun!_

1\. Denethor never believed that Boromir's discarded armor might be too tight for Faramir.

2\. The ladies of Gondor longed for Boromir and wouldn't let Faramir court them, though Boromir surreptitiously gazed at soldiers.

3\. Boromir resented Faramir's wish for the return of the king. Faramir resented Boromir's wish to inherit the Stewardship with no king in sight, despite what it had done to their father.

4\. No one took Faramir's dreams seriously unless Boromir claimed to have had them too.

5\. Boromir thought Faramir was unreasonably optimistic. Faramir thought Boromir was unreasonably pessimistic. Each was certain the other was going to get himself killed.


End file.
